


Not Velveteen

by Adamarks



Series: Tumblr Prompts [5]
Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Gen, I said what if toys were lonely and touch starved like m’self, Velveteen Rabbit AU, based on a tumblr prompt, simon is his worst fear.... a horse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:33:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27610732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adamarks/pseuds/Adamarks
Summary: Rocking horses aren’t toys that get wrapped up in pretty paper and stuffed under the tree. Rather, they’re done up with a single bow— if that— and sat next to the tree, separate from the rest of the toys.-Based on the prompt “The rocking horse kept moving”
Series: Tumblr Prompts [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1978117
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Not Velveteen

**Author's Note:**

> This was based on the tumblr prompt “The rocking horse kept moving” + Simon from Viv and Sam. ❤️ It was supposed to be spooky but I don’t listen.

Rocking horses aren’t toys that get wrapped up in pretty paper and stuffed under the tree. Rather, they’re done up with a single bow— if that— and sat next to the tree, separate from the rest of the toys.

They aren’t, as this horse found, given names like the soft toys, either. Sometimes, they’re the stars of playtime, the noble steed. Often, they are forgotten, and left out of the fun.

They aren’t treated tenderly like the other toys, either. Paint gets scuffed and corners get bonked, but their paint does not get worn away from gentle love as a velveteen toy’s does.

One day, a gentle little boy visited the nursery. He pet the rocking horse’s nose, and pretended it was a wild animal, meant to be befriended, and not a wooden warhorse with a scuffed rump and missing hair. That day, the horse received a gift it’d only dreamed of: a name.

Simon.

-

It would be over a year before that boy would visit the nursery again. By then, he thought himself too old for rocking horses, and much too proper to softly coo at nursery toys.

And so Simon’s heart broke as the only one who ever knew him by name, forgot.

-

Eventually, the owner of the nursery fell ill. And so, everything that called the nursery home had to be burned.

That was the first time Simon saw a real horse, as it was carted to its demise. It found the beast to be much more frightening than itself. Its muscles bulged and its hooves were free to beat the earth. Simon discovered itself to be both intrigued and terrified, jealous and disillusioned.

From atop the pile to burn, it watched the horse’s hide be pet and felt its wooden chest ache.

-

The other toys were crying as they laid there waiting to be burned in the morning. Simon didn’t, though. It found it had no tears to shed. It rested, with its raggedy body and eyes shut, and thought about when the boy had given it a name.

The soft toys, with their well-loved fur and squishy insides, took their names for granted. They didn’t think about every time they’d been gently held, and touched. But Simon only had the one, and in its last moments, it cherished the one gift it’d been given.

Suddenly, something soft and warm pressed against its nose. And although it did not open its eyes, it knew someone special was there.

“Simon,” they whispered, “for you, a gift…”

-

“A boring chestnut,” the man muttered, his hand coming to rest on the horse’s neck. The muscle shivered as he stroked down to the shoulder.

The horse eyed him, and despite himself, the man felt instantly attached. His fingers stroked down the soft fur of its nose.

“What was its name again?”

“Simon, sir.”


End file.
